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NOTE: the text corresponds to Korshunov & Gorbunov, 1995) only.

FAMILIA HESPERIIDAE 

   "Skippers", the butterflies of small, rarely of intermediate 
size. The antennal club is rather smooth, hooked in some genera. 
The head is wide (its width exceeding the length), with widely 
set eyes; being covered with dense hairs, the head seems even 
more wide. The thorax is also wide due to the well developed wing 
muscles which allow a swift and impetuous flight being a 
characteristic of these butterflies. The fore wings are 
triangular in shape. All the legs are equally developed. 
   The larvae are naked, short, spindle-shaped; they live in the 
leaves fastened with silken threads, hibernate and pupate in 
loose silken shelters on the ground or among the leaves of 
foodplants. 
   The world fauna contains about 3600 species of skippers, 
mostly distributed in the tropics and subtropics. There are about 
100 species in the temperate Eurasia and 53 in the Asian Russia. 


SUBFAMILIA COELIADINAE.

GENUS BIBASIS Moore, 1881.
Type species: Goniloba sena Moore, 1816.

  An East- and South-Asian genus with 18 species.


1.   Bibasis aquilina (Speyer, 1879).

TYPE LOCALITY: S Primorye: Vladivostok

RANGE: South Primorye, NE.China, Korea, Japan. 

HABITAT: mostly native valley and montane broad-leaved forests 
and stone pine (Pinus koraiensis)/deciduous mixed forests. The 
imagines keep to tall herbage at forest edges and occur under 
the tree canopy, they often visit flowers of Apiaceae and 
Sorbaria sorbifolia, frequently are observed on wet ground.    

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/middle August. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984). 
Foodplant: Kalopanax septemlobum (Araliaceae). Eggs: usually 
inside old larval dwelling on the foodplant. The larva 
hibernates in the second instar in a peculiar cocoon on the bark 
of the food tree, later constructs a dwelling in the leaves of 
the foodplant. The last instar larva is greyish-brown with 
several lengthwise light lines, the head is orange-read. Pupa: 
light-brown with dense white suffusion, in a loose silken 
shelter on the foodplant. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 20-25 mm. The wings are brown, 
the fore wing underside has yellow spots. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The continental part of the range is 
inhabited by a nominotypical subspecies. 



SUBFAMILIA PYRGINAE

GENUS LOBOCLA Moore, 1884.
Type species: Plesioneura liliana Atkinson, 1871.

  An East-Asian genus with 8 species.


2.   Lobocla bifasciata (Bremer et Grey, 1852) 0.

TYPE LOCALITY: China: Peking.

RANGE: South Primorye, North-East, Central and South China, Korea. 

HABITAT: meadows and openings in valley broad-leaved forests, dry 
open oak woodland on mountain slopes. A rare species. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: July/early August. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 23-25 mm. The wings are 
black, the fore wing has a wide white band, the hind wing has 
no band. 



GENUS SATARUPA Moore, 1866.
Type species: Satarupa gopula Moore, 1865.

  An East- and South-Asian genus with 7 species.


3.   Satarupa nymphalis (Speyer, 1879).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur.

RANGE: South Primorye, North-East and Central China, Korea. 

HABITAT: meadow patches, open tree-stands and river valleys in 
broad-leaved and mixed forests. These skippers have a very swift 
flight, they often rest on flowers of Apiaceae, Sorbaria 
sorbifolia, or Cirsium maackii. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: July/August. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in S Primorye (M.M. and M.A. 
Omel'ko, 1981). Foodplant: Phellodendron amurensis (Rutaceae). 
In the first half of July females are observed which swiftly fly 
around the Phellodendron crown and for a short time sit down on 
leaf edges, with the wings widely spread, to lay eggs. They make 
up tp 2-3 ovipositions on a tree. The eggs are laid as a chain 
or two adjacent chains containing from 1-3 to 6-11 eggs . Eggs: 
relatively large, chestnut-coloured, hemispheric with distinct 
ribs . The larvae hatch on twelfth day, usually in the morning. 
They are about 3 nn long, yellowish-green, naked, with black 
head. The young larva constructs a peculiar shelter by cutting a 
small triangular plate off a leaf edge and bending it to contact 
with the leaf surface. The larva hides, with its back down, in 
this shelter. It feeds, usually in the morning, on the edges of 
the neighbouring leaves, making a silken path there. The larvae 
overwinter in small groups in a special nest: they  spin the 
upper surface of the leaflets and the main petiolus of a leaf to 
make the leaflets roll to form a winter shelter. In the late May 
the larva abandons it and constructs a new shelter by fastening 
two young leaves one above another. In this shelter the larva 
spends the daytime but leaves it for feeding in twilight. A 
mature larva constructs another shelter from several leaves and 
spin it inside with the silk. In this shelter it also pupates. 
Pupa: 28-29 mm long, its stage lasts for 21-22 days. Soon after 
forming the pupa acquires a waxy bloom. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 17-20 mm (the largest of our 
skippers). The white band on the hind wing is wide and 
contiguous, on the fore wing it is split into separate spots. 



GENUS DIAMIO Murray, 1875.
Type species: Pyrgus tethys Menetries, 1857.

  An East- and South-Asian genus with 7 species.


4.   Diamio tethis (Menetries, 1857).

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: Priamurye (from the Zeya to the Anyuy rivers), Primorye, 
North-East and Central China, Korea, Japan. 

HABITAT: forest edges, meadow openings and parklands within 
broad-leaved and mixed forests. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: in West Primorye in two broods: middle May/middle 
June, and July/August; at higher altitudes on the Sikhote-Alin' 
and in Priamurye - in a single brood in June. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Quercus mongolica in Primorye 
(Graeser, 1888), Dioscorea niphonica in Japan (Fukuda et al., 
1984). Eggs: round yellowish-brown, laid singly on the foodplant 
leaves and covered by a bunch of hairs from the abdomen of the 
female. Larva: dove-coloured with a dark head, lives solitarily. 
Pupa: light-brown with white triangular markings, in a rolled 
silk-spun leaf. 
 
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 17-20 mm. The fore wing has 
three round translucid spots, the hind wing lacks bands. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: ssp. lineata Mabille et Boullet, 1916 is 
known from the Russian Far East. 


GENUS ERYNNIS Schrank, 1801.
Type species: Papilio tages Linnaeus, 1758.

  F.w.l.: 13-20 mm in our species. The fore wing upperside is 
brownish with two transversal dark bands; the fringe is evenly 
brown. 
  A Holarctic genus with 17 species, the majority of which 
inhabit USA.


5.   Erynnis montanus (Bremer, 1861).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur.

RANGE: Priamurye (downstream to the Gorin river), Primorye, NE. 
China, Korea, Japan. 

HABITAT: steppefied meadows within oak light woodland, openings 
and edges of deciduous and mixed forests with the participation 
of the oak; up to the alpine zone in the mountains. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: late April/early June, in Kunashir up to early 
July.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984). 
Foodplants: Quercus mongolica). Eggs: round, ribbed, at first 
light-yellow, later reddish-brown, laid by 1-2 at the bud bases 
Larva: greenish-yellow with yellow back and lateral streaks and 
scattered black dots; the head is brown with four yellow spots. 
It lives usually solitarily, pupates in autumn between withered 
leaves fastened with silk. Pupa: reddish-brown, hibernates. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 18-20 mm. The fore wing 
upperside is reddish-brown with three grey bands; the hind wing 
upperside is dark-brown with two rows of yellowish-orange spots. 
Females are well distinguished by a greyish bloom on the fore 
wing upperside. 


6.   Erynnis tages (Linnaeus, 1758).

TYPE LOCALITY: Sweden (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982)

RANGE: Europe, Anterior and Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, 
South Siberia eastwards to Zabaikalye. In Siberia it is rather a 
rare and local species. 

HABITAT: meadow patches at river banks, forest edges and 
cuttings, pine forests and birch groves ["kolki"], larch 
parklands. 
 
FLIGHT PERIOD: May/June and August. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 
1982). Foodplants: Fabaceae: Coronilla, Eryngium, Lotus, 
Medicago lupulina etc.; Apiaceae are also reported. Eggs: 
greenish-yellow or orange, hemisphaeric with 9 lengthwise ribs. 
Larva: light-green, sprinkled over with black dots, with yellow 
back and lateral lines and a brown head with four yellow spots; 
it hibernates and later pupates in rolled leaves. Pupa: dark-
brown with a green fore end and wing cases. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-16 mm. The fore wing 
upperside is dark brown with two obscure darker bands; the 
underside is greyish-brown with white or yellowish dots at the 
edges. Similar species: E. popoviana. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The area considered is inhabited by the 
nominotypical subspecies.


7.   Erynnis popoviana (Nordmann, 1851).

TYPE LOCALITY: South Zabaikalye: Kyakhta.

RANGE: Zabaikalye, Upper and Middle Priamurye (the Zeysko-
Bureyskaya Lowland), Primorye (the Prikhankaiskaya [pertained to 
lake Khanka] Lowland), E.Mongolia, NE China, Korea. 

HABITAT: steppefied meadows, often met on the wet ground. In 
Zabaikalye these buterflies observed together with E. tages. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: late May/middle July. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l. 14-17 mm. The fore wing 
upperside is dark brown with two dark bands; the hind wing has 
two rows of whitish spots at the outer margin both on the 
upperside and underside. From a similar species E. tages this 
differs by the genitalia structure, larger size and more 
contrasted light dots at the outer margin of the hind wing.. 

ETYMOLOGY: Nikolay Ivanovich Popov - an inspector of schools of 
the Southern district of the Irkutsk Province, collected insects 
in 1846-1850, mainly in the surroundings of Kyakhta. 


GENUS CARCHARODUS Hubner, 1819.
Type species: Papilio alceae Esper, 1780.

  F.w.l.: 13-18 mm. The wing upperside varies in colour from 
olive to dark-brown and has a diffuse ornament composed of 
lighter patches. The fore wing has transparent spots; the 
fringe is chequered. 
  A West Palearctic genus including eight species.


8.   Carcharodus lavatherae (Esper, 1780).

TYPE LOCALITY: South France.

RANGE: S Europe, N Africa, Anterior Asia, South Ural (the 
surroundings of Orenburg, the Sakmara River). 

HABITAT: steppes, mostly on slopes with limestone outcrops. 

FLIGHT PERIOD:late June/middle of July.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe. Foodplants: Stachys recta 
(Lamiaceae), less frequently Lavathera thuringiaca (Malvaceae). 
Eggs: oval-shaped with fine slanting ribs, yellowish, laid 
singly on the foodplant leaves or stems. Larva: blueish-grey 
with two dark streaks along the back and lighter lateral 
streaks. It hibernates between silk-fastened leaves. Pupa: dark-
brown with a blue bloom, with short light hairs on the fore end 
and on a blunt cremaster. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO:  F.w.l.: 14-17 mm. The wing upperside 
is olive-brown with  large diffuse white areas, the underside is 
whitish; the sex-brands are absent 


9.   Carcharodus alceae (Esper, 1780) 0.

TYPE LOCALITY: Germany.

RANGE: Central and South Europe, Anterior and Central Asia 
eastwards to the West Himalayas and northwards to the piedmonts 
of South Ural, the southern West Siberian Lowland and the Altai 
Mts. piedmonts. 

HABITAT: steppes and, sometimes, replacing cultural landscapes, 
ruderal vegetation, wet forest meadows. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: prolonged from May to middle July, in southern 
regions butterflies of the second brood were recorded in August. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913). 
Foodplants: Malvaceae: Althea, Lavatera, Malva. Eggs: flattened, 
apically with a dim, yellowish, later become grey. The larva 
hides in a shelter of silk-spun leaf fragments, where it is 
usually found bent into a ring. A young larva eats the leaf 
mesophyll leaving the veins, later it gnaws out the holes. After 
each moult the larva constructs a new shelter on the same leaf. 
It hibernates and pupates in spring, without additional feeding, 
in a rolled lea. Mature larva: light-, reddish- or blueish-grey, 
the segment joints are brownish-yellow. There are four dark 
lines along the back and a light stripe on either side. The 
first segment is black with large red or yellowish spots, the 
head and thoracic legs are black, the prolegs are 
brownish. Small dark warts, set with dense and short whitish 
hairs, are scattered over the body. The pupa is brown with a 
blueish bloom, the thorax is very convex, the cremaster bears 
fine hairs and hooks. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-16 mm. The wing upperside 
is brown with lighter bands; the hind wing underside is 
greenish-grey with white spots; the androconial brands are 
absent. 


10.  Carcharodus flocciferus (Zeller, 1847)
(= althaea Hubner, 1803).

TYPE LOCALITY: Sicily.

RANGE: South Europe, South and Middle Ural, the south of West 
and Middle Siberia east to the Sayan piedmonts, the Altai Mts. 

HABITAT: meadow patches on river banks, at forest edges and 
cuttings, in birch groves, pine woods and on mountain slopes. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: June/middle August, in one or two broods. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913). 
Foodplants: Stachys, Dracocephalum, Leonurus and other 
Lamiaceae, and also Malva (Krulikovskii, 1907). Larva: green 
with black segment joints and orange spiracles, the head is 
dark. Each segment bears three small light warts with bunches of 
long whitish hairs. The first segment is yellowish-white with 
dark spots. The thoracic legs are dark, the prolegs are 
brownish. The larva hibernates. The pupa is dark-brown with a 
greyish-glaucous bloom, its phase latst for about 20 days. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-17 mm. The wing upperside 
is dark-brown, the hind wing underside is greyish-brown with 
white spots; on the fore wing underside, at the base, there is a 
pussy sex-brand. 



GENUS SYRICHTUS Boisduval, 1834.
Type species: Papilio proto Esper, [1805-1808].

  F.w.l.:13-22 mm. The wing upperside is dark-brown or greenish-
grey, with light markings and a submarginal row of white spots 
parallel to the outer margin. The wing underside ground colour 
is greenish-grey. 
  The genus includes more than ten Palearctic species


     Syrichtus anthonia (Speyer, 1879).

TYPE LOCALITY: Lake Zaissan.

RANGE: Central Asia, East Kazakhstan, Mongolia, West China. W.Ewans 
(1949), based on the collections of the British Museum of Natural 
History, reported it for Altai and Siberia. However, later this 
species was not found in the mountains of South Siberia.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-19 mm. The wing upperside 
is dark-brown with large and bright white spots fused into 
bands; at the fore wing apex there are five oblong intervein 
spots. The band on the hind wing underside is orange-yellow with 
a black bordering. 


     Syrichtus staudingeri (Speyer, 1879).

TYPE LOCALITY: Lake Zaissan.

RANGE: Anterior and Central Asia, E. Kazakhstan. Subspecies proteus 
Staudinger, 1886 was reported by W.Ewans (1949), together with 
the previous species, for Altai and Siberia on the base of the 
collections of the British Museum of Natural History, but later 
this species has also never been reported for the Asian Russia. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-16 mm. The wing upperside 
ground colour is dark-brown, the white spots being rather small; 
at the fore wing apex there are three oblong spots between the 
veins; the costal margin of the fore wing and the anal margin of 
the hind wing are suffused by greenish-grey scales; the hind 
wing underside is of a reddish-brown ground colour. 

ETYMOLOGY: Otto Staudinger (1830-1900) - a famous 
lepidopterologists. 


11.  Syrichtus cribrellum (Eversmann, 1841).

TYPE LOCALITY: "South Ural and the Volga Basin" (Orenburg, 
Bashkiria, Sergievsk, Tsaritsyn, Sarepta). 

RANGE: The steppe zone of Eurasia, from East Europe through 
South Ural and South Siberia and Mongolia to the Bol'shoy 
Khingan, eastwards from Tuva the species becomes rare. 

HABITAT: steppes, dry meadows on mountain slopes, rocks and 
screes, patches of steppen vegetation alongside the roads; the 
imagines tend to rest on stones, the males defend individual 
areas. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle May/August, in two broods.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Potentilla has been reported as a foodplant. 
Larva: light-green with black specks and yellow streaks along 
the back and either side; the head is brown with four yellow 
spots. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside 
is brownish-grey or brown, on the hind wing underside there is a 
full band formed by roundish white spots and a wide row of fused 
white spots along the outer margin. The white streak on the 
transversal vein is absent. Similar species: S. tesselum. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: South Ural is inhabited by the 
nominotypical subspecies, the Upper Ob' Basin [Priobye] and the 
mountains of South Siberia - by ssp. obscurior Staudinger, 1892. 


12.  Syrichtus tessellum (Hubner, 1803).

TYPE LOCALITY: South Russia.

RANGE: The forest-steppe (the grove-belt)  and steppe zones of 
Eurasia from SE Europe and Antherior Asia through southern Ural and  Siberia to the Prilenskoe 
Plateau and Upper Priamurye and Primorye. In the Far East only 
few specimens were collected.

HABITAT: meadows and steppe patches in river valleys,  forest glades and edges and mountain slopes. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: in the forest-steppe zone in middle May/middle 
August in two broods. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Phlomis tuberosum (Lamiaceae). 
Hibernation on the stage of egg or larva. Larva: greenish-grey 
with a brown head and transversal stripe on the first segment of 
the body (V. Dubatolov, O. Kosterin). 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-20 mm. The wing upperside 
is brownish-grey or brown with rows of white spots. On the hind 
wing underside there is a full band formed by angular white 
spots and two (often fused) rows of white spots along the outer 
margin. On the fore wing there is a white transversal stripe on 
the transversal vein. Similar species: S. cribrellum, S. gigas. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The nominotypical subspecies is known 
from the southern parts of Ural and West Siberia, the form 
cribrelloides Warren,1926 occurs there together with the typical 
one; ssp nigricans Mabille, 1909, differing by a reduced white 
marking and a darker (muddy-green) hind wing underside ground 
colour, inhabits the mountains of S. Siberia and Central 
Yakutia, from Priamurye the subspecies minor Mabille, 1909 was 
described, which is characterized by a small size, a dark ground 
colour of the upperside, noticeably enlarged postdiscal  white 
spots as compared with the submarginal ones 


13.  Syrichtus gigas (Bremer, 1864).

TYPE LOCALITY: S. Primorye: the Posiett Bay.

RANGE: E Mongolia, NE China, Middle Priamurye (The 
Blagoveshchensk environs), S Primorye. 

HABITAT: montane open oak woodland, steppefied meadows. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: June/early August.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-23 mm. Differs from the  
similar species S. tesselum by a larger size and smaller white 
spots of which the submarginal spots are reduced to dots. 



GENUS SPIALIA Swinchoe in Moore, 1912.
Type species: Hesperia galba Fabricius, 1793.

  The genus includes 30 species ranging in the Old World.


14.  Spialia orbifer (Hubner, 1823).
(= sertorius auct. non Hoffmansegg, 1804).

TYPE LOCALITY: Hungary (de Jong, 1974).

RANGE: The non-tropical Eurasia northwards to the southern taiga 
belt. A local species known from the Asian Russia by scarce 
findings. 

HABITAT: meadow patches in open woodland, birch groves, pine 
woods, river valleys and mountain slopes. The imagines were 
onserved to feed on flowers of Trifolium, often seen on wet 
ground. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: June, in the mountains up to the first half of 
July, mostly in a single brood in the territory considered. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Sanguisorba officinalis, 
Potentilla spp., Rubus spp., and other 
Rosaceae. Larva: dark-brown with yellow specks and lateral lines 
of the same colour, with a black head covered by short hairs; it 
lives among leaves fastened with silk; hibernates. Pupa: yellow-
brown with blueish rings. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: 
F.w.l.: 11-14 mm. The wing upperside is dark-brown or almost 
black with small white markings; the hind wing underside is 
dark with three large round white spots forming almost a 
regular triangle.

SYSTEMATIC NOTE: This species sometimes has been mentionned under the names 
Hesperia sao Hb. or H.sao Brgstr. (which are invalid as 
homonyms), or as a subspecies of Spialia sertorius Hoffmansegg, 
1804 (this species is distributed in Europe and the part of North 
Africa adjacent to Spain). 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The subspecies lugens (Staudinger, 
1886), described from Ferghana (Uzbekistan) has been reported 
for the territory considered: R. De Jong (1974, p.55) has 
mentioned Onguday (Altai) and Tetyukhe (Primorye). However, the 
taxon lugens seems to ne an independent species not entering N 
Asia. The buterflies from S Ural and Siberia, and also from the 
mountains of Kazakhstan, are closer to the nominotypical 
subspecies (V. and A. Lukhtanov, 1994). They differ from lugens 
from the Pamiro-Alai Mts. by a dark upperside ground colour, 
small white spots,  an even ground colour of the hind wing 
underside (without light-brown spots) , and also by the 
structure of male genitalia. From subspecies orbifer they differ 
by more elongated wings and a muddy-greenish-brown hind wing 
underside ground colour (usually brown in orbifer). These 
butterflies are described as ssp. pseudolugens P. Gorbunov, 1995 

     Spialia orbifer pseudolugens P. Gorbunov, 1995 
     Original description: 
   "...For Siberia and Primorye the taxon lugens Staudinger, 
1886, stated from the region of the Ferghana town, was reported 
(de Jong, 1978). It seems, however, to be an independent species of no 
relation to the fauna of North Asia. Butterflies from S Ural, S. 
Siberia, and the mountains of E Kazakhstan are close to the 
nominotypical subspecies (V. und A. Lukhtanov, 1994). From a 
typical lugens from the Pamiro-Alai Mts. they differ by a dark 
ground colour of the wing upperside, small size of white marks, 
an even colouration of the hind wing underside (without pale-
brown spots), and also the male genitalia structure. From the 
subspecies orbifer they differ by more elongate wings and muddy-
greenish-brown ground colour of the wing underside (which is 
usually brown in the subspecies orbifer). By these characters a 
subspecies Spialia orbifer pseudolugens P. Gorbunov, sbsp. n. is 
being stated. F.w.l. in the type series is 11.2-13.2 mm in males 
and 13.1-13.8 in females. The hind wing underside ground colour 
in females is brown-ochre, much lighter than in males. 
   MATERIALS: The holotype: a male - 10.06.1994, W Altai, the 
station Turgusun environs, the Osinovka River valley (P.Yu. 
Gorbunov). Paratypes: 9 males 1 female - the same locality; 2 
males - 28.05.1995, the same locality (Yu.A. Shevnin);  2 males 
- 16.06.1992, SE Altai, the village Aktash (V.G. Barkhatov); a 
female - 29.06.1986, S. Ural, the station Poletaevo (A. 
Razboinikov); 8 males 2 females - [the date was dropped, it is 
12.06.1993] the Dzhungarian Alatau Mt. Chain, the environs of 
the village Tekeli [in fact it is a city - Yu. K.], the Kora 
River, 1500 m (V. Dubatolov, O. Kosterin)." 


GENUS PYRGUS Hubner, 1819.
Type species: Papilio alveolus Hubner, [1800-1803].

  F.w.l.: 11-19 mm. The wing upperside is black with white 
marking but without a submarginal row of white spots. The hind 
wing underside is dark with white spots nearly forming a medial 
band. Many species are very similar in appearance.
  A Holarctic genus including about 30 species.


15.  Pyrgus sidae (Esper, 1782).

TYPE LOCALITY: "the Volga".

RANGE: S. Europe, Anterior and Central Asia, S Ural (the basins of 
the Sakmara and Belaya rivers), E Kazakhstan. More than 100 
years ago the species was mentioned, by the  collections of A. 
Kindermann,  by J.Lederer (1853) for Altai (Ust'-Kamenogorsk and 
Ust'-Bukhtarma), but later was not found there. 

HABITAT: meadow steppes and steppefied meadows on mountain 
slopes. Quite a rare species. Imagines was observed to feed on 
Apiaceae,  Fabaceae, Plantago, Thymus marschallianus. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: June. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Potentilla. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l. 15-18 mm. On the hind wing 
underside there are two yellow-orange transversal bands on a 
white background. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: S Ural are inhabited by ssp. sidae


16.  Pyrgus carthami (Hubner, 1819) (= fritillarius auct., nec 
Poda, 1761). 

TYPE LOCALITY: S Germany.

RANGE: Europe (except for the North), S. Ural, southern West 
Siberian Lowland (the surroundings of the town Tatarsk and the 
villages Chistozernoe, Plotnikovo, and Kornilovo), West Altai 
(the Irtysh basin, Lake Markakol'). 

HABITAT: Meadow steppes and steppefied meadows, mainly on 
south-exposed slopes. Quite rare. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: end May/June.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants in Europe (de Jong, 1972): Althea 
officinalis, Malva sylvestris, also reported Lamium, Potentilla, 
Centaurea. Pupa is placed in a rolled leaf of the foodplant. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 15-17 mm. The ground colour of the 
wing upperside is dark-grey; the hind wing underside ground 
colour is ochre-yellowish; the white spots of the transversal row 
are large and of even size and shape, roundish, often outlined 
with dark rims.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Ural and West Siberia are inhabited by 
subspecies moeschleri Herrich- Schaffer, 1854 described from 
Sarepta and differing  from the nominotypical one by in general 
larger size, enlarged white spots on the upperside and paler 
hind wing underside ground colour. 


17.  Pyrgus maculatus (Bremer et Grey, 1852).

TYPE LOCALITY: China: Peking.

RANGE: Mountains of South Siberia: Tuva  (the settlement Telib, 
the Erzin river), E Sayan (the mountain Munku-Sardyk), 
Pribaikalye (the Temnik river valley), Zabaikalye, Priamurye, 
Primorye, Mongolia, West, Central, and North-East China, Korea. 
There were only several findings of the species in Pribaikalye 
and westwards. 

HABITAT: meadows in 
river valleys, open woodland on hills, bushy slopes; the 
species tends to vegetation types with the participation of 
Spiraea. The imagines often visit the flowers of dandelion 
(Taraxacum). 

FLIGHT PERIOD: April/late June in Primorye, middle May/middle 
July in the mountains of S Siberia . 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Spiraea ussuriensis and S. media 
in Primorye (Kurenzov, 1970), Rubus ideus in Priamurye (Graeser, 
1888); Fragaria viridis is also recorded. Preimaginal phases 
studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984). Eggs: laid solitary on 
the underside of leaves of the foodplant. Larva: green with 
lengthwise lines on the back and sides, set with dense short 
hairs; the head is dark. The larva spins the leaf with silk and 
feed on its edges. Pupa: dark with a glaucous waxy bloom, placed 
in a shelter made up of faded leaves spun with silk; it 
hibernates. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The hind wing 
underside is of bright-brown ground colour, with a narrow white 
band and a very large oval dark-brown spot proximally of it. 


18.  Pyrgus malvae (Linnaeus, 1758) (= ruraris auct.; scriptura auct.).

TYPE LOCALITY: Finland: the Aland  Isles.

RANGE: Temperate Eurasia northwards (in W Siberia) to the 
forest-tundra zone. 

HABITAT:  meadows of various types, forest edges, river valleys, 
in the mountains rises up to the tree-line. Imagines are often 
observed on the flowers of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) or on 
wet ground. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: late April/June, June/July in the norther forest zone, in 
southern range the second brood is possible. 

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913, and 
others). Foodplants (de Jong, 1972): Rosaceae: Fragaria, 
Potentilla, Rubus, Agrimonia, Comarum and others; Coronilla 
(Fabaceae) was also reported. Eggs: yellowish-green, ribbed,  
hemisphaeric, laid singly underneath the foodplant leaves. Young 
larva: greyish-brown; mature larva: muddy-green with a lighter 
ventral side, covered with dense short hairs which are denser on 
the rare part of the body, with dark-brown lengthwise lines on 
the back and sides; the head and the first segment tergite is 
black: the spiracles are orange-yellow rimmed by light-yellow. 
The larva lives inside a rolled leaf. Pupa: brown with black 
specks and transversal strokes and with a waxy bloom, the wing 
cases are greenish. It hibernates on the ground in a silken 
shelter among the leaf fall. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-14 mm. The hind wing 
underside is olive-brown with lighter veins and separate white 
spots. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The nominotypical subspecies inhabits 
Ural, Siberia; and the northern Far East; the subspecies 
kauffmanni Alberti, 1955, differing by small white spots on the 
hind wing underside, is known from Middle Priamurye and 
Primorye. The taxa Pyrgus ruralis ochotica Kurenzov,1970 and 
Pyrgus scriptura kusnetzovi Kurenzov, 1970, described by 
A.I.Kurentsov (1970), belong to P. malvae. 


19.  Pyrgus centaureae (Rambur, 1839).

TYPE LOCALITY: Norway: Dalarne.

RANGE: Locally in the forest-tundra and northern forest zones of 
Eurasia, in the mountains southwards to Mongolia; North America. 

HABITAT: bogged up open pine and larch forests, raised moors, in 
the mountains of South Siberia - alpine meadows and dwarf birch 
tundras at 1700-3000 m altitudes. The imagines often rest on wet 
ground or moss. In Altai they were observed to feed on Lagotis 
integrifolia (Kosterin, 1994).

FLIGHT PERIOD: late June/middle July in the majority of habitats.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Lapland (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 
1982) and N America  (Scott, 1986). Foodplants: some Rosaceae: 
Rubus chamaemorus, Potentilla, Fragaria. Eggs: whitish-green 
hemisphaeric, with lengthwise ribs. Larva: brown with a dark 
dorsal line. Hibernation occurs at the stage of the last instar 
larva.  Pupa: brown with a dark line alomg the back and spots on 
the dorsal side of the abomen. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.:14-17 mm. The wing upperside is 
brown with relatively large, often fused white spots on the fore 
wing. The hind wing underside is brownish with conspicuous light 
veins and a full  band composed of white spots. In the male 
genitalia the basal processus of the valva (antistyle) is wide, 
to some extent bent laterally, its apex being obtuse (Table 
...). Similar species: P. sibirica, P. andromedae, P. chapmani. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Subspecies centaureae is known from the 
forest-tundra and forest zones of W Siberia. The specimens from 
the mountains of S Siberia are similar to it also. The 
butterflies from the Magadan Region and Koryak Upland differ by 
in general darker a wing underside ground colour and reduced 
white spots on the hind wing upperside, they were described as 
subspecies sibiricus Kurenzov, 1970. This name is a junior 
homonym for Pyrgus sibiricus (Reverdin, 1911) and so was 
replaced by the name kurentzovi Korshunov, 1995 


20.  Pyrgus sibiricus (Reverdin, 1911).

TYPE LOCALITY: Altai.

RANGE: West, NE (at Lake Teletskoe), Central, and SE Russian 
Altai Mts., Mongolian Altai (V. and A. Lukhtanov, 1994), ?the 
Sayans.  

HABITAT: Usually is found together with P. centaureae on alpine meadows 
at stream headwaters and in mountain tundras at  2200-3000  m. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: late June/ middle July.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-17 mm. The wing upperside 
has white spots smaller than in the previous species, on the 
hind wing upperside they often disappear. On the hind wing 
underside the white veins are distinct, and the band composed of 
white spots is full. In the male genitalia the basal processus 
of the valva (antistyle) is strongly bent laterally, its apex 
substantially stretched and pointed (Table ...). Similar 
species: P. centaureae, P. andromedae, P. chapmani. 

SYSTEMATIC NOTEs: For a long time this species was considered as  
a  synonym of P. centaureae. From the East Sayan (the Munku-
Sardyk mountain) the species Pyrgus chapmani (Warren, 1926) was 
described, it was also reported from the Vitim River basin. In 
the original description it was compared with P. sibiricus from 
which it differs in looking more motley due to more expressed 
white spots. In male genitalia the uncus is longer, the cucculus 
is to a greater extent stretched out and pointed. Further 
investigation of this taxon is necessary which would be based on 
more substantial materials 


21.  Pyrgus andromedae (Wallengren, 1853).

TYPE LOCALITY: Norway: Dalarne.

RANGE: The Pirenees, Alps, mountains of Balcan Peninsula, 
Carpathians, North Scandinavia, the Kola Peninsula, Polar Ural. 
A local species. 

HABITAT: in Polar Urals - hingle banks in the mountain tundra 
belt, rock on mountain slopes up to 700 m above sea level; the 
imagines were also recorded on flood meadows and muddy roads 
going through mossy tundras. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: in Polar Ural late June/middle July.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Malva (Malvaceae) and Alchemilla 
glomerulans (Rosaceae) are known from Europe (de Jong, 1972).

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm (by in general a 
smaller size it differ from P. centaureae). The hind wing 
underside is of greyish ground colour, the veins are not 
conspicuous, the band is interrupted, it is composed of white 
spots, the central spot being much widened. In the male 
genitalia the basal processus of the harpe is not expressed 
(Table ....). Similar species: P.centaureae. 


22.  Pyrgus cinarae (Rambur, 1839).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Volga basin: the town Sarepta.

RANGE: South Europe, Anterior Asia , South Ural (few findings: 
the surroundings of the villages Bululchan, Aknazarovo, Guberli, 
Isyangulovo, the station Kuvandyk, the town  Novotroitsk). A 
local and rare species. 

HABITAT: herbaceous variants of mountain steppe on south-exposed slopes. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: 
middle June/middle July.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-16 mm. The hind wing 
underside ground colour is greenish-ochre , the white spots are 
somewhat larger than in similar species P. alveus, P. 
serratulae, P. armoricanus . In the male genitalia the valva 
apex (cucculus) is not semicircular, the length of the ucnus 
approaches the valva length (Table...). 


23.  Pyrgus alveus (Hubner, 1803).

TYPE LOCALITY: S Germany (by the neotype (Renner, 1991))

RANGE: The temperate Eurasia eastwards to the Prilenskoe 
Plateau, Zabaikalye and East Mongolia; in Siberia northwards to 
the northern taiga zone. 

HABITAT: meadow patches in various forests, 
birch groves, river valleys, mountain slopes. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: in the 
southern range - middle May/August in two broods, the first one 
being less abundant; in the taiga belt - in a single brood in 
June.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: in Europe some Rosaceae were reported (de 
Jong, 1972): Potentilla, Rubus, Agrimonia, and also some plants 
of  other families: Carduus, Helianthemum; Polygala, Deshampsia. 
Eggs: green, later become yellowish, hemisphaeric with 22 
lengthwise and numerous transversal ribs; they are laid singly 
on leave underside and hibernate. Larva: velvety-chockolade-
brown  with a dark dorlas line, the first segment bears a black 
white-rimmed spot; the head is mate-black. The larva lives in a 
rolled leaf and is also able of hibernation, pupates in a silky 
shelter among leaves. Pupa: pale-reddish-brown with dark specks 
on the dorsal side, covered with short hairs, its surface is 
rough.; the wing cases and the end of the body have a blueish 
bloom. light-brown with darker dots, 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: 
F.w.l.: 13-16 mm. The hind wing underside is of greenish-grey 
ground colour, the basal spots are angular, often fused. The hind 
wing upperside has two rows of diffuse spots. In the male 
genitalia the valva apex (cucculus) is semicircular, the uncus is 
much shorter than the valva (Table ....). Similar species: P. 
armoricanus, P. speyeri, P. cinarae, P. serratulae.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION:  in Siberia is insufficiently studied. 
Subspecies iliensis Reverdin, 1912, described from the Ili river 
(Kazakhstan) has been reported (de Jong, 1972 and others) for W 
Siberia, Altai and Sayans. 


24.  Pyrgus speyeri (Staudinger, 1887) (= alveus auct.).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur  River: the village Baranovka.

RANGE: E Sayan, S Pribaikalye, Zabaikalye, Priamurye (downstream 
to Khabarovsk), Primorye, E Mongolia, NE China. 

HABITAT: steppefied meadows and herbaceous steppes. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: in two broods: late May/middle June 
and middle July/middle August.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-16 mm. The wing upperside 
is dark-brown, the white spots on the fore wing are small and 
may be reduced, the hind wing upperside lacks white spots. The 
hind wing underside is yellowish- or greenish-brown with 
separate white spots, those at the wing base are angular, the 
white marginal spots are small or reduced. Similar species: P. 
alveus, P. schansiensis, P. serratulae. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION:  subspecies speyeri is known from 
Zabaikalye, Priamurye, and Primorye; subspecies seitzi Mabille, 
1909 was described from the East Sayan, which is characterized 
by reduced white spots on both wing sides.. 


25.  Pyrgus schansiensis (Reverdin, 1915).

TYPE LOCALITY: China: Shangshi: Ta-tsing-schan.

RANGE: Known from Central and NE China; reported by R. de Jong 
(1922) for the Stanovoy mountain range; recently found by 
A.N.Strel'tsov in the Sikhote-Alin mountains and in the Amur 
region in the interfluve of the Zeya and Amur, and also in the 
Khanka Region of Primorye (Novokachalinsk and Barabash-Levada). 

FLIGHT PERIOD: July

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: Differs from the similar species P. 
alveus, P. speyeri, P. serratulae by larger size (f.w.l.: 16-18 
mm),  large white spots on the fore wing upperside and strongly 
reduced ones on the hind wing. The ground colour of the hind 
wing underside is yellowish- or greenish-brown, the row of white 
spots forms a full band., the white spots at the wing base are 
angular. 


26.  Pyrgus armoricanus  (Oberthur,  1910).

TYPE LOCALITY: France, Rennes.

RANGE: Europe, NAfrica, Anterior Asia, South Ural (the vicinity of 
the town Beloretsk and the village Aknazarovo), where it is 
rather a rare species. 

HABITAT: forb meadow

FLIGHT PERIOD: June and July

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Henriksen, Kreutzer,
1982; other authors). Foodplants: Potentilla reptans and
Fragaria vesca. Eggs: light-green, hemisphaeric with 25
lengthwise ribs. Larva: brown-green or violet-grey, with a black
head, covered with fine hairs; there are three dark streaks
along the back and, on the 1st thoracic segment, two brownish-
black spots on a whitish background. Pupa: brown, specked with
black, with paler wing cases.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l. : 12-14 mm. The ground colour 
of the hind wing underside is greenish-grey, with conspicuous 
yellowish veins; white spots at the wing base are angular. In 
male genitalia the valva apex (cucculus) is semicircular; the 
uncus is shorter than the valva. Similar species: P. alveus, P. 
serratulae, P. cinarae. 


27.  Pyrgus serratulae (Rambur, 1839).

TYPE LOCALITY: Spain.

RANGE: Europe (except for the North), Anterior Asia, Middle and 
South Ural, South Siberia eastwards to Zabaikalye, Mongolia, 
reported also for Primorye (the Suchan district). 

HABITAT: meadows of various types in the forest and as well 
steppe zones, both on flats and in mountains, meadow steppes, in 
Altai Mts. up to 1700 m above sea level. 

FLIGHT PERIOD: as a rule, 
in two broods, from May to August, depending on the locality.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Potentilla, Alchimilla 
Hibernation occurs on the larval stage. 

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-15 mm. As different from 
similar species, on the hind wing underside the ground colour is 
greenish-ochre or greenish-grey, the basal spots are separated 
from each other, the costal one is roundish. The hind wing 
upperside usually without white spots. In the male genitalia the 
valva apex (cucculus) is pointed, not semicircular, the uncus is 
shorter than the valva (Table ...). Similar species: P. alveus, 
P. armoricanus. 

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION:  The skippers from Ural and S Siberia 
have small white spots on the fore wing upperside, on the hind 
wing underside they are usually absent, the hind wing underside 
is greenish with clear-cut white spots. By these characters they 
are closer to the nominotypical subspecies than to the skippers 
with relatively large white spots described from the vicinity of 
the town Ural'sk  as subspecies uralensis Warren, 1926. 


SUBFAMILIA HESPERIINAE

GENUS LEPTALINA Mabille, 1904.
Type species: Steropes unicolor Bremer et Grey, 1852

   A monotypical East Asiatic genus


28.  Leptalina unicolor (Bremer et Grey, 1852).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur.

RANGE: Middle Priamurye (does not penetrate upstream of the
Minor Hinghan), Primorye, NE and Central China, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT: Calamagrostis meadows, herb meadows in valleys of
rivers and brooks and on the slopes of coastal terraces. Unlike
the majority of the skippers, these have a peculiar, slow and
jumping, mode of flying.

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle May/late June.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: grasses (Poaceae), Phragmites australis and others.
Eggs: white, hemisphaerical, laid singly on the foodplant
leaves. Larva: cream-white with lengthwise reddish streaks; it
lives solitarily within rolled leaves fastened with silk
threads, hibernates. Pupa: elongate, brownish with a darker
ventral stripe; it is attached to a withered leaf of the
foodplant.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-14 mm. The wing upperside
is dark-brown, the hind wing underside is dull light rusty-brown
with a contrasted silvery stripe.


GENUS HETEROPTERUS Dumeril, 1806.
Type species: Papilio aracinthus Fabricius, 1777.

   A monotypical Palearctic genus

29.  Heteropterus morpheus (Pallas, 1771).

TYPE LOCALITY: Samara (the Volga Basin).

RANGE: The temperate Eurasia, in Siberia northwards to the southern
taiga.

HABITAT: meadows with Poaceae predominating, forest glades,
edges of birch groves and pine woods; in the mountains of South
Siberia locally on wet meadows within the forest belt, at 1000-
1500 m. TAs the previous species, these skippers have a peculiar
jumping mode of flying. The males are often observed sitting on
wet ground.

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/August.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913; and
others). Foodplants: Calamagrostis, Brachipodium, Molinia, and
other Poaceae. Eggs: yellow, hemisphaeric with a shallow dimple
on the top; laid singly on the foodplant. Larva: greenish,
covered by small black warts bearing short dark hairs, there are
a dark stripe with whitish margins along the back and a yellow
lines on either side; the head is yellow with a wide brown
median stripe and black eyes; the thoracic legs are yellowish-
brown; the ventral side of the body is light, set with dense
short white hairs. The larva hibernates in a grass leaf rolled
into a tube. Pupa: dull-green with dark transversal stripes, its
head bears a red dart.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-18 mm. The wings are
dark-brown, the hind wing underside is yellow with a number of
rows of large white black-margined oval spots.


GENUS POTANTHUS Scudder, 1872.
Type species: Hesperia omaha Edwards, 1863.

  The genus embraces 20 species  from  E.  and  SE.  Asia  and
Australia.


30.  Potanthus flavum (Murray, 1875).

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: SE and E Asia north-east to South Primorye and Japan.

HABITAT: flood meadows and open montane oak forests.

FLIGHT PERIOD: late June, July and August, in one or two broods.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Poaceae and Iris. Eggs: white, round, laid singly on
leaf upperside. Larva: greyish-green with light transversal
streaks on segments and the sides of a dark head; hibernates.
Pupa: green with a yellowish abdomen; placed inside a rolled
foodplant leaf.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-16 mm. The wing pattern is
formed by yellow and black bands.


GENUS CARTEROCEPHALUS Lederer, 1852.
Type species: Papilio opaniscus Fabricius, 1775.

  F.w.l.: 11-15 mm. The wing pattern is spotty; yellow, white,
dark-brown and black colours predominate in the colouration. The
hind wing upperside is dark  with clear cut rounded lighter
spots. Females differ from males by an enlarged dark pattern.
Pupae have a pointed projection on the head, they are attached
with a belt of a silk thread; it is placed mostly on withered
leaves of the foodplants and overwinters.
  This Holarctic genus includes about 15  species,  the  majority  of
which inhabit C. China.


31.  Carterocephalus diekmanni  (Graesser, 1888).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur River.

RANGE: Middle Priamurye (Blagoveshchensk), S Primorye, the Great
Hinghan in China. In recent years was reported from Russian
territory only from the Elduga River basin, at the village
Borisovskoe, in the Ussuriiskii Nature Reserve, and on the Gamov
Peninsula.

HABITAT: grassy slopes with rock outcrops within the montane
mixed forest belt.

FLIGHT PERIOD: late May/early June.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wings are dark-
brown with white spots of different sizes, those on hind wing
underside have a brilliant silver tint.

ETYMOLOGY: Diekman, N.G., a German merchant and butterfly collector,
lived in Blagoveshchensk.

32.  Carterocephalus argyrostigma (Eversmann, 1851).

TYPE LOCALITY: Irkutsk (South Pribaikalye) and Kyakhta (S
Zabaikalye).

RANGE: The mountains of South Siberia, Mongolia and NE. China. A
local species.

HABITAT: open steppefied slopes, riparian and forest meadows. In
Altai Mountains the species occurs no lower than at the
altitudes of 1200-1800 m, in Tuva and Zabaikalye is common also
on plains.

FLIGHT PERIOD: May, June, and/or the first half of July,
depending on the altitude and exposition.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-13 mm. The wing upperside
is dark-brown with yellow spots; the hind wing underside usually
has five brilliant silvery-white spots of complicated shapes.


33. Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771).

TYPE LOCALITY: "Russia" (the Volga Basin).

RANGE: The temperate Eurasia, the Sakhalin, the Kuriles, Japan, the
west of North America, ranging from forest-tundra in the north to
forest-steppe in the south and reaching the tree-line in the
mountains.

HABITAT: humid meadows in various types of woodland and forest-
steppe, valleys, parklands. The imagines often rest on large
leaves of herbs and bushes and visit mostly the flowers of
Geranium, and also of Spiraea, Dianthus, Cerastium, Lamium,
Plantago, etc., and also wet ground.

FLIGHT PERIOD: in a single brood, early May/middle June in
southern regions , in the forest-tundra the period lasts to the
middle of July.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae: Calamagrostis,
Brachipodium, Bromus, Triticum. Eggs: yellowish, conical in
shape with fine . Young larva: yellowish-white with a black head
and first segment. Mature larva: light-green or pale-ochre-
coloured, with light and dark lengthwise and transversal lines;
the head is  blueish with a dark median line. The larva lives in
a rolled leaf, after hibernation pupates in a shelter made up of
grass leaves spun with silk. Pupa: greyish-yellow with reddish
lengthwise streaks on the dorsal side of the body; the head is
pointed in a beak-like manner.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.:12-15 mm. The wing underside is
dark-brown with separate yellow spots, but on the underside the
yellow colour predominates,  the hind wing underside is muddy-
yellow or brownish with whitish roundish spots. Similar species:
C. silvicola.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: the skippers from fores-steppen regions
of Ural are close to ssp. papaemon. The subspecies albiguttata
Christoph, 1893 (= taigana Kurenzov, 1970; = australis Kurenzov,
1941) ranges widely in Ural, Siberia, and the Far East. It was
described by the materials from Southern and Middle Ural, the
Vilyui River and the East Sayan and is characterized by a
reduction of ochre-coloured spots on the wing upperside and
white colour of the spots on the wing underside.  The Sakhalin
is inhabited by ssp. murasei Matsumura, 1925, in which, alike
the nominotypical subspecies, the underside spots are yellow.


34.  Carterocephalus silvicolus (Meigen, 1829)
(= sylvius Knoch, 1781 - homonym).

TYPE LOCALITY: Germany.

RANGE: Like C.palaemon, this species ranges in the temperate
Eurasia, including the islands of Sakhalin, Kuriles, and Japan.

HABITAT: similar to that of the previous species: humid meadows,
forest edges and open stands in forests, parklands, bush
thickets. The imagines often visit the flowers of Geranium,
Spiraea, Veronica, etc., often form congregations on the wet
ground.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae: Bromus, Milium,
Phalaris, Poa spp. Eggs: yellow, glossy, hemisphaeric with a
shallow dimple on the top, laid singly on the foodplant. The
larvae hatch about 9 days after oviposition. Young larva: milky
white, set with small black hairs; the head is brownish-black.
Mature larva: yellowish or greenish with a light red-brown
dorsal stripe, two or three lines of the same colour on either
side; the head and the thoracic legs are brown; the spiracles
are black. In autumn, before the last moult, the larva becomes
muddy-yellow. The larva lives solitarily and hibernates. Pupa:
yellowish-brown or yellowish-green with a projection on the
head; the abdomen is ochre-coloured with brown or reddish
lengthwise streaks; by colouration it resembles a withered leaf.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The fore wing
upperside is yellow with isolated dark-brown spots; the hind
wing underside is muddy-yellow, due to a heavy dark suffusion, and
has roundish yellow spots. Similar species: C. palaemon.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Ssp. silvicola ranges on the continent.
The subspecies isshikii Matsumura , 1925 (=shikotana Matsumura,
1926) was reported for the Sakhalin and Kuriles..


GENUS THYMELICUS Hubner, 1819.
Type species: Papilio actaeon Rottemburg, 1775.

  F.w.l.: 12-15 mm, in both sexes the wings are ochre-fulvous in
general, sometimes with an outer border. The antennal club has
no hook. The pupae have a pointed projection on the head; they
are fastened by a silken belt.
  An Eurasian genus with 10 species.


35.  Thymelicus sylvaticus (Bremer, 1861).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Ussuri River (Primorye).

RANGE: Middle Priamurye (between the Bureya and the Gorin
Rivers), Primorye, NE China, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT: meadow areas within in broad-leaved,
montane mixed or, less frequently, coniferous forests, other
open places, settlements..

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/late August.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Poaceae (Bromus, Calamagrostis, Agropyron,
Brachypodium) and Cyperaceae (Carex). Eggs: white, ellyptical;
laid in small groups into the folds in old leaves. Larva:
greenish-yellow with green head and a wide back line of the same
colour. Pupa: green with lighter lengthwise streaks and a sharp
dart behind the head.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside
is ochre-fulvous with dark veins and a broad dark-brown marginal
suffusion on both wings. In males the sex-brand is not
expressed. Similar species: Thymelicus leoninus.


36.  Thymelicus leoninus (Butler, 1878).

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: S Primorye, NE China, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT: forest meadows. A very rare species.

FLIGHT PERIOD: July/middle August.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Poaceae (Bromus, Brachypodium, Agropyron etc.).
Eggs: white, ellyptical; laid by several in a row on old leaves
or petioles. Larva: green with wide dove-coloured
lengthwise streaks.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside
is of fulvous-ochre colour with dark veins and a dark border,
which is wider on the hind wing. Similar species: T. sylvaticus.


37.  Thymelicus lineola (Ochsencheimer, 1808).

TYPE LOCALITY: Germany.

RANGE: N Africa, the non-tropical Eurasia northwards (in Asia)
to the middle taiga zone, the Sakhalin, North America.

HABITAT: various meadows, steppes and replacing them pastures
and fallow lands, larch parklands. The skippers often visit
flowers of Origanum vulgare, Veronica, Berteroa incana,sit on
wet ground and wet pebble banks.

FLIGHT PERIOD: late May/middle August in two broods in the
south, late June/July in a single brood in the taiga zone and
mountains.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae (Agropyron, Agrostis,
Brachypodium, Bromus, Elytrigia, Festuca, Phlaeum, Dactylis
glomerata and others); in Zabaikalye the larvae were recorded
also on Rosaceae: the wild apple-tree (Malus baccata) and the
Siberian Wild Apricot (Armeniaca sibirica), in Europe - on
Prunus spinosa. Eggs: ellyptical with a dimple on the top, at
first yellow, later become blue; usually laid in batches of 30-
40 on the foodplant leaves. The larva usually is hided in a
shelter made of silk-fastened leaves. Young larva: ligh yellow
with a black head and a spot on the first segment. Mature
larva: blueish-green or greenish-yellow with a dark-green dorsal
stripe and yellowish lengthwise lines along the sides; 9th and
10th segments bear a white spot on either side; there are three
brown strokes on the head. Pupa: greenish with lengthwise light-
yellow streaks, in a shelter made up of silk-fastened grass.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-14 mm.
The wing upperside is ochre-fulvous with marginal darkening. The
male fore wing has a straight androconial stroke. The antennal
club is black underside. Similar species: T. flavus.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Ural and Siberia are inhabited by the
nominotypical subspecies.


38.  Thymelicus flavus (Brunnich, 1763)
(= sylvestris Poda, 1761; = thaumas Hufnagel, 1761).

TYPE LOCALITY: Denmark.

RANGE: Europe, N Africa, Anterior Asia, Middle and South Ural.

HABITAT: Meadows in montane forests.

FLIGHT PERIOD: June and the first half of July.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Phleum, Festuca, Brachypodium,
Deshampsia and other Poaceae. Eggs: elongate, at first white,
later beckome yellowish. Young larvae hibernate. Mature larva:
greenish with a double dark white-rimmed streak along the back and
three lengthwise yellowish lines on either side; the head is
dark-green. It lives and pupates in a shelter consisting in a
grass leaf with fastened edges. Pupa: yellowish-green with a
reddish dart on the head, in a frail silk cocoon among grass
leaves.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside is
ochre-fulvous with a marginal darkening. The male fore wing has a
bent androconial stroke. The antennal club is light underside.
Similar species: T. lineola.


GENUS OCHLODES Scudder, 1872.
Type species: Hesperia nemorum Boisduval, 1852.

  F.w.l.: 13-18 mm. In males the wings are of ochre tones with
an androconial stroke behind the cell, in females they are brown
with separate ochre spot; the hind wing underside without white
spots. The antennal club is pointed and hooked.
  A Holarctic genus with 16 species.


39.  Ochlodes venata (Bremer et Grey, 1852).

TYPE LOCALITY: China: Peking.

RANGE: Middle Priamurye, Primorye, Sakhalin, NE. China, Korea.

HABITAT:  Wide forest clearings, meadow patches in open oak
forests, grassy slopes, locally - up to the tree line.

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/late August.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-18 mm.
In males the wing upperside is of bright golden-ochre colour
with a hardly noticeable darkening at the outer margin. Similar
species: O. faunus.

SYSTEMATIC NOTE: The taxon O. venata for a long  time
was considered to extend to West Europe, now it is found out
that this  name is applicable only to the light butterflies of
the continental E Asia.


40.  Ochlodes faunus (Turati, 1905)
(= venata auct.; = sylvanus Esper, 1779).

TYPE LOCALITY: Italy

RANGE: Europe, the temperate Asia, in SIberia north to the
southern limit of the middle taiga zone, the Sakhalin, the
southern Kurile Isles, Japan.

HABITAT: Meadows of various types, forest edges, vasting lands.
The imagines visit the flowers of Trifolium, Veronica, Geranium,
Dracocephalum, Polygonum, other plants, often rest on the leaves
of large herbs (Korshunov, 1969).

FLIGHT PERIOD: June and the first half of July. In South Ural
and Zabaikalye [Transbaikalia] the second brood was recorded in
August, those butterflies are a bit larger and lighter. In
Primorye this species starts flying about a month earlier than
O. venata, in late June, and penetrates in more humid habitats.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae: Poa, Agropyron,
Elytrigia, Triticum, Avena, Brachipodium, Calamagrostis,
Festuca, Dactylis, Sasa and others, and also Carex. Larva: green
with two dark-green dorsal lines, a yellowish (above) and a
blueish (beneath)  lengthwise lateral stripes, and numerous
black dots; the head is  brownish. It lives in rolled leaves,
hibernates and pupates in spring among silk-spun grass leaves.
Pupa is slender, greenish or greyish, with darker wing cases;
its stage lasts for about three weeks.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 15-18 mm. In male the wing
underside is ochre-fulvous with an intensive wide darkening at
the outer edge, as different from the similar species O.
venatus; the hind wing underside in both sexes is greenish-
ochre, usually with distinct yellowish spots which are larger
and more diffuse than in H. florinda.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: While the subspecies faunus Turati, 1905
ranges  in  West and Central Europe, Ural and  the  most  part
of  Siberia  is inhabited by the subspecies esperi Verity, 1934
described from "Rossia boreali" and differing by a more
developed dark pattern on the wing upperside and yellowish-green
hind wing underside ground colour, with more distinct yellow
spots. The  subspecies  parvus  Kurenzov,  1970, described  from
Zabaikalye, is close to it. The southern [Russian] Far East is
inhabited by ssp.  amurensis  Mabille, 1909, being easily
distinguished by a very distinct dark-brown pattern of the wing
upperside and an ochre-brown ground colour of the hind wing
underside with contrasted yellowish spots.  The subspecies
herculea Butler, 1981 inhabits the  Sakhalin and  the  Kuriles,
which is described from Japan and approaches esperi by general
colouration.


41.  Ochlodes ochracea (Bremer, 1861).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Ussuri River (Primorye).

RANGE: Middle  Priamurye (from the Minor Hinghan Mts. to the
Gorin River), Primorye, NE China, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT: meadows, forest edges and  glades  in  montane  mixed
and broad-leaved forests, mostly non-disturbed.

FLIGHT PERIOD: late June/early August.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Cyperaceae (Carex) and Poaceae (Calamagrostis,
Brachypodium, etc.). Egs: white, hemisphaeric, laid singly on
the foodplant leaves. Larva: greyish-green with a dark back and
yellowish lateral streaks. Pupa: green, in a silken shelter
among plant residues.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside
in males is of golden-ochre colour with dark-brown veins and
outer border and a black androconial stroke, in females - dark
with yellow spots. The wing underside in both sexes is ochre-
yellow with dark veins.


42.  Ochlodes subhyalina (Bremer et Grey, 1852).

TYPE LOCALITY: China, the Peking vicinity.

RANGE: Priamurye (the environs of Khabarovsk and Komsomol'sk-na-
Amure), S Primorye, NE and Central China, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT: south-exosed slopesmeadows, wide forest
clesrings in montane mixed woods.

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/late August.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-19 mm. The wing upperside
in general is dark-brown with large yellow spots; the hind wing
underside is ochre-green with yellowish spots.


GENUS HESPERIA Fabricius, 1793.
Type species: Papilio comma Linnaeus, 1758.

  A Holarctic genus with 18 species, the majority of which range
in USA.

43.  Hesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758).

TYPE LOCALITY: Sweden.

RANGE: The non-tropical Eurasia north to the polar regions, the
Sakhalin.

HABITAT: In the southern part of Ural and West Siberia this
species is quite common in steppes and meadows, but to the north
and east becomes rare and local, occurring on forest and alpine
meadows, in larch parklands and mountain tundras. The feeding of
imagines was observed in West SIberia on Veronica, Trifolium,
Prunella, in Altai highlands - on Solidago dahurica (2000 m
altitude) and Crepis tectorum (1000 m)

FLIGHT PERIOD: usually middle July/middle August, but in
Zabaikalye [Transbaikalia] it is shifted to June. Some specimens
were collected in June also in East and Central Yakutia and the
Polar Ural (P. Gorbunov's collections).

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982
and others). Foodplants: many Poaceae species were reported:
Festuca, Poa, Bromus, Deshampsia, Lolium, Stipa, Triticum and
other Poaceae; and also Carex and some legumes: Lotus, Coronilla
varia. Eggs: hemisphaeric, very fine sculptured, ivory-coloured
or orange-yellow. Larva: olive-green, ash-grey or greenish-
violet, with a rust-brown lengthwise back line and a double dark line
of the same colour on either side; the 9th and 10th segments
have a white spot on either side each; the ventral side is
lighter; the thoracic legs, the spiracles, and a cordate head
are black. The larva lives in the tuft of the foodplant leaves,
close to the ground, pupates either in the same tuft or on the
ground in a loose silk shelter. Pupa: varies from the sand-
coloured to brownish with blueish wing cases and spiracles and
the dorsal side whitish, set with short hairs.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-17 mm.
The wing upperside is ochre-brown with yellow marks and a dark-
brown border; the hind wing underside is greenish-ochre or
muddy-green with contrasted angular spots. Similar species: H.
florinda.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The butterflies from the Polar and
Subpolar Ural are darkly coloured and approach to the subspecies
catena Staudinger, 1861, described from Laplandia. The
butterflies from the Sakhalin were designated as sachalinensis
Matsumura, 1933. Here we are describing three new subspecies from
Siberia. A variation exists in females within these
subspecies, and they have certain differences in configuration
of the teeth on the valva  and  other details of male
genitalia.

    Hesperia comma lena Korshunov et P.Gorbunov, 1995.

     Original description:
  HOLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l.: 16 mm. The wing upperside is
relatively dark, brown with fulvous spots; the underside of the
hind wing and of the fore wing apex are of a muddy-green ground
colour, the inner margin of the hind wing underside being
yellowish; the white spots are contrasted but their dark rims are
not distinct as being hidden by muddy-green scales.
   ALLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l.: 15 mm. On the wing upperside the
dark-fulvous colour is to a great extent displaced by dark-brown
scales. The androconial stroke contains a light stria inside. The
hind wing underside is muddy-green, with a fulvous suffusion at
the anal angle and  with roundish and angular white spots, their
dark rims being masked by the scales of the ground colour.
   MATERIALS: the holotype: a female, the Suntar-Khayata mountain
range, 356th km of road Khandyga-Magadan, a damp meadow on the
Suntar river bank, 19th July 1985 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); the
allotype: a male, the Suntar-Khayata mountain range, 232-nd km
of road Khandyga-Magadan, a mountain Baranya, 1600 m altitude,
7th July 1985 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); paratypes: male and female -
C. Yakutia, settlement Khaptagay, the Tamma river valley, 20th
July 1973 (Yu.N.Ammosov leg.); 10 males 8 females - Suntar-
Khayata mountain range, 232-nd km of road Khandyga-Magadan,
16th-27nd June and 1si-22th July 1985 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); 2
females, Yakutsk, Botanical Garden, (V.V.Dubatolov leg.), a male
- NW. Chukotka, 100 km south of settlement Pevek, Ust'-Chaun,
24th July 1986 (V.K.Zinchenko leg.).

    Hesperia comma planula Korshunov, 1995.

   HOLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l.: 15 mm. The fore wing apex is more
pointed than in the nominotypical subspecies; the fore wing
upperside is light-fulvous with less amount of dark scales; the
androconial stroke contains a conspicuous light streak; the hind
wing underside is yellowish-green (while in Swedish specimens it
is olive-green) with angular white spots.
   ALLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l.: 16 mm. On the fore wing upperside
the yellow scales cover not all the white spots, this especially
concerns the spots at the outer margin. The hind wing underside
is yellowish-green with large white spots in dark rims.
   MATERIALS: the holotype: a male,  Novosibirsk region,
settlement Karasuk, Lake Krotovaya Lyaga, a birch grove edge,
29th July 1981 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); the allotype: a female,
Novosibirsk region, 10 km NNW of town Zdvinsk, a steppefied
meadow at a road, 14th August 1990 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.);
paratypes: a female, environs of Barnaul,29th July 1902
(E.G.Rodd, leg.); 1 male 2 females - Novosibirsk region,
village Novyy Sharap, birch kolki 8th, 19th, and 28th August
1957; a female - the same locality, 2nd August 1959; Novosibirsk
region, railway station Izdrevaya, 1st July 1959; a male -
Tyumen' region, village Oktyabr'skoe, the Ob' bank, 9th July
1969 (Yu.P.Korshunov leg.); a male - surroundings of
Chelyabinsk, 30th July 1979 (A.E.Kulyginskiy leg.); a female -
Chelyabinsk region: town Troitsk surroundings, 14th August 1982
(M.F.Manapov leg.); 1 male 5 females - Novosibirsk region,
settlement Karasuk, Lake Krotovaya Lyaga, 23th July 1981; a male
- the same locality, 10th August 1990; a female - the same
locality, 11th August 1990 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); a male -
Novosibirsk region, 10 km NNW of town Zdvinsk, 19th August 1990
(V.V.Dubatolov leg.).

     Hesperia comma sushkini Korshunov, 1995.

     Original description:
   HOLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l.: 18 mm. All the light-yellow
spots are distinct on a dark ground colour of the wing
upperside; the hind wing upperside is grey-green with a light-
grey inner border; the scales at the anal angle are lighter than
others and so form a conspicuous spot; the white spots are
distinct, of intermediate size
   ALLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l.: 16 mm. The wing upperside is
fulvous, the outer area of the fore wing and the margins of the
hind wing are dark; the androconial stroke contains a light
stria; the white spots of the hind wing underside are large,
distinct, with dark rims.
   MATERIALS: the holotype: a female, Altai, the Chulyshman river
valley, 19th August 1980 (M.Ivonina leg.); the allotype: a male,
Altai, Katunskiy mountain range, the Nizhniy Kuragan river bank
terrace at the mouth, a steppefied meadow, 24th July 1986
(O.E.Kosterin leg.); paratypes: a female - Nizhnyaya Ustyuba,
25th July 1902 (G.Orlov leg.); 3 males - N. Pribaikalye, the
Malaya Kosa river, a larch wood edge (Velizhanin leg.); 1 male 1
female - Novosibirsk region, Bugotakskie Sopki [Bugotak Hills]
at settlement Semenovskiy, 5th August 1982 (V.V.Ivonin leg.); a
male - Krasnoyarskiy Kray, the Sayano-Shushenskiy reserve, the
Uzun-Suk river, 11-16th August 1988 (V.A.Vagin leg.); a male -
West Altai, the settlement Glubokoe, 2nd September 1990
(V.K.Zinchenko leg.).
   The subspecies is named after the surname of Petr Petrovich
Sushkin (1868-1928), a known ornitologist and lepidopterologist,
who collected Lepidoptera in the mountains of South Siberia
togerther with S.S. Chetverikov.
     [Note: the spelling "shushkini" is clearly an error, since it
was clearly stated that the taxon is named after the surname
Sushkin].


44.  Hesperia florinda Butler, 1878

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: S. Pribaikalye (the Tunkin District), S. Zabaikalye,
forest-steppe regions of Middle Priamurye, S Primorye, E
Mongolia, NE China, Korea, Japan, reported for the Sakhalin
(Evans, 1949).

HABITAT: steppes and steppefied meadows.

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/middle August.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Carex. Eggs: large, white, hemisphaeric, laid
singly on faded leaves of the foodplinds or on the pebble near.
Larva: darker than that of P. comma, almost brown with a similar
pattern; it pupates in a frail silk shelter among grass leaves.
Pupa: brownish, with  paler and speckled abdomen.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 15-17 mm. The hind wing
underside is ochre-coloured with small yellowish spots.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: In Russia the subspecies rozhkovi
Kurenzov, 1970  ranges, described from the steppes of
Zabaikalye. The butterflies from Primorye differ by to some
extent darker females.


GENUS AEROMACHUS Niceville, 1890.
Type species: Thanaos stigmata Moore, 1878.

  The genus includes 11 species from E. and SE. Asia.


45.  Aeromachus inachus (Menetries, 1859).

TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur River.

RANGE: Middle Priamurye, Primorye, Central and East China, Korea,
Japan.

HABITAT: open montane oak forests, grassy slopes with rocks,
meadow patches.

FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/late August.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Spodiopogon sibiricus (Poaceae). Eggs: white,
hemisphaeric, laid singly underside the foodplant leaves. Larva:
greyish-green with three lengthwise dove-coloured stripes on the
back; it lives solitarily in a web-fastened leaf, hibernates.
Pupa: green with three dove-coloured stripes on the ventral
side, it is attached to the upper side of a foodplant leave.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-13 mm. The wings are dark-
brown, the fore wing upperside and underside of both wings with
a row of small yellowish dots.


GENUS THORESSA Swinhoe, 1913.
Type species: Pamphila masoni Moore, 1819.

  The genus includes about 20 species from E and SE Asia.

46.  Thoressa varia (Murray, 1876).

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: the Sakhalin, the S Kuriles, NE China, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT: meadows, mostly coastal, with Sasa kurilensis.

FLIGHT PERIOD: June and July.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplant: Sasa. Eggs: white, round; laid on leaves and stems of
the foodplant.  Larva: blue-green with a dark head; hibernates,
pupates on the ground inside rolled leaves of the foodplant.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-18 mm. The wing upperside
is dark-brown; small light spots present only on fore wings. The
wing underside is brown with a yellowish suffusion and
contrasting dark veins.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: ssp. varia inhabits the Sakhalin and
S Kuriles, from the Kunashir Island a close ssp. melancholica
Bryk, 1942, has been described.


GENUS PARNARA Moore, 1881.
Type species: Eudamus guttatus Bremer et Grey, 1852.

  The genus includes five species from Africa, S and SE Asia,
and Australia.

47.  Parnara guttata (Bremer et Grey, 1852).

TYPE LOCALITY: NE China.

RANGE: E and SE Asia north to Primorye. A migrant species.

HABITAT AND FLIGHT PERIOD: in Primorye the imagines were
recorded on meadows in valley broad-leaved forests, rice fields
in July, August, and early September.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: some Poaceae: Orisa was reported
from Primorye (Kurenzov, 1970),  Zea mays and Sasa - from Japan
(Fukuda et al, 1984). Eggs: brown, hemisphaeric; laid on the
foodplant leave upperside. Larva: greenish-brown with a dark
lengthwise stripe on the back; hibernates, pupates in a silk
shelter among the leaves.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-19 mm. The wings are dark-
brown. The four transparent "windows" on the hind wing are
arranged in an even decreasing row oriented to the wing apex;
there is a small white spot in the cell. Similar species:
Polytremis zina, P. pellucida, Pelopides jansonis.


GENUS POLYTREMIS Mabille, 1904.
Type species: Gegenes contigua Mabille, 1877.

  The genus includes 10 species from E and SE Asia.

48.  Polytremis pellucida (Murray, 1875).

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: The Sakhalin, the S. Kuriles, Korea, Japan.

HABITAT, FLIGHT PERIOD: The imagines were recorded from late
July until autumn, mostly at wood edges and open tree stands
with thickets of Sasa kurilensis, on floodland and coastal
meadows.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae (Phragmites, Sasa etc.).
Eggs: roundish, reddish, laid singly on the foodplant leaves.
Larva: greenish-glaucous with a dark head. Pupa: the colouration
resembles withered leaves, among which it is usually placed.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-23 mm. On fore wing the
transparent "windows" at the discoidal vein are placed one beneath
the other. In the male genitalia the tegumen is long, flattened,
with two pairs of small teeth at the apex. Similar species:
Polytremis zina, Parnara guttata, Pelopidas jansonis.


49.  Polytremis zina Evans, 1932.

TYPE LOCALITY: China: Sichuan: Omeishan.

RANGE: Middle Priamurye (not upstream of the Malyi Khingan
Mountain Range), Primorye, North-East, Central and  South
China, Korea, reported for the Sakhalin.

HABITAT: meadow patches in river valleys and  on mountain
slopes. FLIGHT PERIOD: July and August.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-22 mm. The lower of the two
transparent "windows" in the fore wing cell is shifted to the
wing base. In the male genitalia the tegumen is widened and bears
two ventro-lateral lobe-like processes at the apex. Similar
species: Polytremis pellucida, Parnara guttata, Pelopidas
jansonis.

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The subspecies zinoides Evans, 1937, had
been described from the Amur River and later was reduced to the
nominotypical one (Evans, 1949).


GENUS PELOPIDAS Walker, 1870.
Type species: Pelopidas midea Walker, 1870.

  The genus includes about 20 species from Africa, S and SE
Asia.

     Pelopidas jansonis (Butler, 1878).

TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.

RANGE: NE China, Korea, Japan (except for Hokkaido). The species
was once reported, on the basis of the collection of the British
Museum of Natural History, for "the Amur".

FLIGHT PERIOD: in Japan in April/June and July/September in two
broods. April/June and July/September.

PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae (Calamagrostis,
Phragmites etc.). Eggs: white, hemisphaeric, laid on the
foodplant leaves. Larva: muddy-green; it makes a tube-ike
shelter of leaves, feeds at night. Pupa: light-green or ochre-
coloured; fastened on leaf underside.

PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-21 mm. On the hind wing the
cell has rather a large white spot, the transparent "windows"
form relatively an even row directed to the anal angle, the
second and third "windows" are oblong and considerably greater
than the others.
                                           

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